Totaled? Advice/Discuss

[Chris28405]

Unfortunate to be introducing myself this way, but I've got a situation. So single lane on highway because construction, a truck rear ends a small compact car. I'm able to swerve and avoid smashing into the back of the truck, but there was not a big of enough space between the truck and the divider on the highway (only one lane again) so the trucks driver side bumper runs down the passenger side of my car. No citations were written, but the other two involved first said there was a fourth car in the very front who caused the pile up and then fled the scene. Then the cop tells me the truck driver says I slammed into the back of him speeding and caused him to hit the car in front of him. Crew cap F-150 and I think a civic are the other vehicles. I never saw a 4th vehicle. Will attach pics of everything. Curious what everyone thinks. I don't know what to do really, first accident. Vehicle drove home perfectly fine, straight as she ever drove and comfortable. Passenger window does not roll down (I believe) door opens and shuts like perfect. So the cars home in my driveway and the claims been started, but I'm so bummed I might lose my (new to me) 5.0. Thanks everybody.


Pics below are immediately following the accident where we all pulled into a gas station with the police. The blue car was rear ended by the truck which I then dodged. Again that crew cab F-150 driver said I was speeding and smashed into him from behind causing him to hit the blue car. My passenger side mirror was the first point of impact with the trucks bumper as I tried to dodge their collision. I think the photos show that I did not cause him to hit the car. There were no citations and I've uploaded all these pics and explained my case to my Progressive claims adjuster already. They haven't called me, but i sent messages. Thankyou all i know it's long and repetitive, but I am sick to my stomach over this.

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[Avispa]

Doesn't seem to be any chassis damage, so a total loss seems unlikely.

 

[Ecoboosted]

Man sorry to hear this. Best thing I’ve ever done is put a front and rear dash cam. That would of proved you didn’t slam him in the rear but swerved to the side and your passenger side hit the corner of his bumper.

Don’t think there is enough damage to be totaled. The damage has to be something like 70-75% of your cars value.

Good luck. Keep us posted on the out come.

 

[Chris28405]

Clearer pictures below after i drove it home. It drove perfect. No airbags, interior damage, glass or lights broken. Wheels were straight, suspension looked okay. I'm very confident I photographed all of the damage to the car. The cars a 2015 GT Premium PP Comp Orange. Thankyou for the time to read.

 

[Ecoboosted]

Looks like his bumper was higher than your back wheel. Any damage to the wheel? From the back of the car does it look parallel with the other wheel?

 

[Chris28405]

Doesn't seem to be any chassis damage, so a total loss seems unlikely.

Man sorry to hear this. Best thing I’ve ever done is put a front and rear dash cam. That would of proved you didn’t slam him in the rear but swerved to the side and your passenger side hit the corner of his bumper.

Don’t think there is enough damage to be totaled. The damage has to be something like 70-75% of your cars value.

Good luck. Keep us posted on the out come.

Thankyou for reading. Will keep updating. I'm feeling better. I found a S197 almost similar situation, but more extensive damage. It was repaired flawlessly. I don't think the car was 5 years old at the time though.

 

[Chris28405]

Looks like his bumper was higher than your back wheel. Any damage to the wheel? From the back of the car does it look parallel with the other wheel?

Yes! I think that's where I got so lucky. The wheel looks great. What's rubbing the wheel is that carpet/plastic material inside the wheel well. Nothing broke in the interior of the car either. I'm pretty sure none of my wheels took any impact.

 

[Zrussian13]

Sucks to be in an accident but from the look of it I doubt your car is totalled. Get it fixed and enjoy...

 

[Drewgamer]

Did the truck try to swerve to avoid the blue car? Looks like he's got driver-side bumper damage, but the blue car has passenger-side bumper damage.

I (thankfully) don't have a whole lot of experience with this kind of stuff, and I'm certainly no accident investigator, but I feel like you have a decent case for not causing the pile-up (a dash cam would be really helpful here. I know, hindsight... ).

However, my gut says not to expect either of the other drivers' insurance to pay out for your damages. But, as others have already pointed out, it doesn't look too bad. Definitely don't let them total it out, that Comp Orange is too beautiful!

 

[Chris28405]

Did the truck try to swerve to avoid the blue car? Looks like he's got driver-side bumper damage, but the blue car has passenger-side bumper damage.

I (thankfully) don't have a whole lot of experience with this kind of stuff, and I'm certainly no accident investigator, but I feel like you have a decent case for not causing the pile-up (a dash cam would be really helpful here. I know, hindsight... ).

However, my gut says not to expect either of the other drivers' insurance to pay out for your damages. But, as others have already pointed out, it doesn't look too bad. Definitely don't let them total it out, that Comp Orange is too beautiful!

Yes he did try to swerve and it was close to where none of us would have damage. I couldn't see in front of the blue car to see what their reason for being stopped was. His swerving allowed me the room to dodge him and I avoided scraping my driver side on the divider/median. Happened fast and we did our best to mitigate. The truck driver was cool when we first got out. Everyone was civil then after we exited highway to the gas station this story of a fourth car came up, then the truck driver flipped saying I caused him to hit the blue car. It took an hour for the officer to arrive and I stayed in my car while the other two drivers were talking the whole time. I just didn't expect for them start lying. There's nothing else I can say they just honestly seemed to team up and try to blame me. I was so mad. The cop was cool, but there was nothing he could do. No one got a citation or ticket. The police report will be interesting.

 

[BlueThunder]

You're still at fault for your own damage. You'd never be able to justify hitting somebody from behind unless you can prove they did something illegal or that it was something totally out of your control (and AFAIK insurance companies don't give much leeway and need irrevocable proof the person behind wasn't at fault). What the F-150 driver is trying to do is completely avoid any culpability by blaming you since he would not be at fault if you rear-ended him, causing him to rear-end the blue car. In the end, he'll be responsible for the damage to his front-end and the rear-end of that blue car. You'll be responsible for any rear/side damage you caused to his truck and your car.

The fact that you don't seem to have any front-end damage pretty much kiboshes his claim that you forced him into the car ahead of him. So you're likely completely safe from any sort of litigation, but you might need to provide pictures.

When there's highway construction and they close a lane, you should always be going slower and be ready for stops if they're operating heavy equipment because they may move into the only available lane, causing a sudden stoppage. It also screws up regular traffic patterns.

That's not even close to being totaled ('15 with probably <50k miles?). Looks like the door panel and rear fender (unless there's damage to the front fender but I couldn't tell if it was just glare). Window motor, mirror, maybe a few panel braces underneath. Gonna guess 6500 to get your back to normal.

 

[2016 GT/CS Laila]

Looking at the damage pattern to your car, it would have forced the back of the truck to the right not push it forward. You mirror broke his tail light and his bumper slid down the length of your car. The truck hit the car solid and unless the driver of the truck has calibrated eyeballs there is no way they can say you were speeding. There is no way you made enough contact to move the truck forward.

 

[cop on my back]

That is far from a write off. I am guessing around $5000

 

[Chris28405]

You're still at fault for your own damage. You'd never be able to justify hitting somebody from behind unless you can prove they did something illegal or that it was something totally out of your control (and AFAIK insurance companies don't give much leeway and need irrevocable proof the person behind wasn't at fault). What the F-150 driver is trying to do is completely avoid any culpability by blaming you since he would not be at fault if you rear-ended him, causing him to rear-end the blue car. In the end, he'll be responsible for the damage to his front-end and the rear-end of that blue car. You'll be responsible for any rear/side damage you caused to his truck and your car.

The fact that you don't seem to have any front-end damage pretty much kiboshes his claim that you forced him into the car ahead of him. So you're likely completely safe from any sort of litigation, but you might need to provide pictures.

When there's highway construction and they close a lane, you should always be going slower and be ready for stops if they're operating heavy equipment because they may move into the only available lane, causing a sudden stoppage. It also screws up regular traffic patterns.

That's not even close to being totaled ('15 with probably <50k miles?). Looks like the door panel and rear fender (unless there's damage to the front fender but I couldn't tell if it was just glare). Window motor, mirror, maybe a few panel braces underneath. Gonna guess 6500 to get your back to normal.

Yes you are correct about everything you said. It was dark and I should have given extra space to allow for the unexpected. I am usually very defensive and ready for these things. Front fender is spotless I believe, 99% sure. Wheels seem to have avoided impact to them. The seem square, parallel and kept their alignment. It drives fine, but I know that doesn't mean too much. Zero front end damage correct. I actually avoided a worse collision. My main worry is if it was going to be totaled or if I keep it if it's going to be ruined. I would rather not get a new car lol. Unless it was free haha

 

[Chris28405]

Looking at the damage pattern to your car, it would have forced the back of the truck to the right not push it forward. You mirror broke his tail light and his bumper slid down the length of your car. The truck hit the car solid and unless the driver of the truck has calibrated eyeballs there is no way they can say you were speeding. There is no way you made enough contact to move the truck forward.

I'm in full agreement with you. The truck driver was an ass too. He was trying to make a scene that this bright sports car was speeding and reckless. It happened fast, but I tried my best to minimize what I could. I had to go between his driver side rear bumper and the concrete divider on the left of me. I chose his bumper to be closer touch if I had to touch something with my car, but I aimed my nose to avoid the most I could. If I was being an idiot in my car, which our stangs are not slow, I could not have reacted the way I did. Thanks again for reading and thankyou to everyone else who has read.

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